Charcoal is commonly used as a heat source for cooking or grilling foods. Typically, the charcoal must be prepared prior to cooking by igniting and burning a pile of the charcoal, often accompanied by or impregnated with petroleum-based accelerants, until the charcoal is lit. To aid in this task, charcoal starting utensils have been developed. One example of a charcoal starter can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,835 to Stephen et al. This is commonly known as a “chimney” style charcoal starter, since it permits airflow to be channeled upward through the burning coals, as in a chimney. However, the bulky metal construction and high heat retention of such starters can make them inconvenient to use. Also, the use of petroleum-based accelerants when lighting charcoal may be undesirable to many people.
It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide an easy to use, inexpensive, lightweight, chimney style charcoal starter that may be substantially consumed during the lighting of the charcoal, and that may only be substantially consumed at such time after the charcoal is lit and ready to use for cooking, and that may only use a minimal amount of petroleum-based accelerant to light the charcoal.